# Cross-study Reliability of the Open Card Sorting Method

## TL;DR

This study empirically evaluates the cross-study reliability of open card sorting, demonstrating that it produces consistent content groupings and navigation schemes across different participant groups and studies.

## Contribution

It provides empirical evidence supporting the reliability of open card sorting across multiple studies with different content types.

## Key findings

- High similarity in card sorting data for the same content across studies
- High agreement in the resulting navigation schemes
- Supports the use of open card sorting for consistent information architecture

## Abstract

Information architecture forms the foundation of users' navigation experience. Open card sorting is a widely-used method to create information architectures based on users' groupings of the content. However, little is known about the method's cross-study reliability: Does it produce consistent content groupings for similar profile participants involved in different card sort studies? This paper presents an empirical evaluation of the method's cross-study reliability. Six card sorts involving 140 participants were conducted: three open sorts for a travel website, and three for an eshop. Results showed that participants provided highly similar card sorting data for the same content. A rather high agreement of the produced navigation schemes was also found. These findings provide support for the cross-study reliability of the open card sorting method.

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1903.08644